Blue Canyon Wind Farm

[264Magnum]

I don't believe black-starts are something that are supposed to be talked about on an internet forum...but I can't think of a reason why there would be one at a wind farm.

Cool pics man!

OK now you've done it, what's a black-start generator?

 

[Spiff]

OK now you've done it, what's a black-start generator?

They're basically something for a worst-case scenario...something really, really, REALLY bad happens and all the power plants shut down, and there's no power in the grid to start them back up.

Almost all power plants need a pretty substantial amount of power to start back up. Certainly all the big stuff. Steam cycles need big freakin' pumps to be fired up, and gas turbines - jet engines - need something to start them spinning.

So to get this power, you start up your black start generator, which is from what I saw usually a big diesel generator. You can supposedly also use gas turbines, but only if you have some way to get them spinning again - usually they're started by electric motors, but they can also be started by stored compressed air.

The black start will provide enough power to start up your gas turbines or maybe one of your smaller steam cycles, and then you can start turning the other stuff on.

Black start locations are kind of not supposed to be disclosed...for fairly obvious reasons. I'm pretty sure I haven't said anything that can't already be found on the internets.

 

[Oklahomabassin]

Yep it can be found now. On a clear day, you can see the wind towers at Lawton, Hammon and Weatherford at the same time.

 

[mmain1]

I've never known black-start generators to be a secret. Just like mentioned above, to start the great big generators there are smaller, self-contained generators.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_start

What I had just heard a few weeks ago was that wind farms and solar farms are installing "black-start" generators to supplement the amount of power the sites are supplying to the grid when the wind isn't blowing or the sun is down. The utility company is expecting a given amount of power to be provided by the wind/solar sites and if they can't meet the requirement they use diesel/gas/methane/natural gas generators. This may not be the case at every wind farm so I was just asking.

 

[Spiff]

I've never known black-start generators to be a secret. Just like mentioned above, to start the great big generators there are smaller, self-contained generators.

What I had just heard a few weeks ago was that wind farms and solar farms are installing "black-start" generators to supplement the amount of power the sites are supplying to the grid when the wind isn't blowing or the sun is down. The utility company is expecting a given amount of power to be provided by the wind/solar sites and if they can't meet the requirement they use diesel/gas/methane/natural gas generators. This may not be the case at every wind farm so I was just asking.

I think I heard at one point that 95% of the generation capacity that can be provided by the windfarms has to be covered by spinning reserves of coal, natural gas, etc. - basically the wind capacity has to be able to be almost immediately replaced if the wind dies.

I just got done with an internship at a couple of power plants for OG&E...I believe there are some federal regulations about not disclosing much info about the blackstarts at a plant.

Didn't mean to derail the thread guys, carry on!

 

[mmain1]

I think the term "black-start" probably wasn't the same as what I meant it to be anyway. A "supplemental" source of power is what my original question should have said.

Enough about that! Back to the pics....

 

[DanB]

Ah A Telehandler with an enclosed cab. Now that just takes all the fun out of running one of those beasts. Nothing like sitting there having the diesel exhaust blowing back on you to brighten you day.

Cool pics. I drive by the NW Crane yard in OKC almost every day. The crane on that sight is impressive even without the full boom attached. Definitely not in the same ball park as the mobile cranes you see running down I40.

 

[Wizard]

pretty cool pics 264

 

[Crosstimbers Okie]

Great pics!!

How much is there to maintaining them once they are operational?

 

[landman873]

watch dirty jobs mike goes and does some maintenance on them here in OK